On this day in history

December 29

27 births · 13 deaths · 5 events

Prev Capricorn Next

Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Jeju Air Flight 2216

1 years ago

Born this day

1808

Andrew Johnson

Died aged 66

Oldest record

855th

Thomas Becket

death anniversary

View profile

Famous births27

1709 · 316 yrs

Elizabeth I of Russia

Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna (Russian: Елизаве́та Петро́вна; 29 December 1709 – 5 January 1762) was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 52

View profile

Photo: Vigilius Eriksen · Public domain

1721 · 304 yrs

Madame de Pompadour

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (French:; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and remained influential as court favourite until her death.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 42

View profile

Photo: François-Hubert Drouais · Public domain

1796 · 229 yrs

Ferdinand von Wrangel

Baron Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangel (Russian: Фердинанд Петрович Врангель, romanized: Ferdinand Petrovich Vrangel; 9 January 1797 – 6 June 1870) was a Russian statesman, naval officer and explorer of Baltic German origin.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ExplorationDied aged 73

View profile

Photo: Alexander Fedorovich Pershakov · Public domain

1800 · 225 yrs

Charles Goodyear

Charles Goodyear (December 29, 1800 – July 1, 1860) was an American self-taught chemist and manufacturing engineer who developed vulcanized rubber, for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

TechnologyDied aged 59

View profile

Photo: Southworth & Hawes · Public domain

1808 · 217 yrs

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 66

View profile

Photo: Mathew Brady, Retouched by Mmxx · Public domain

1809 · 216 yrs

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone ( YOO-ərt GLAD-stən; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a four-time prime minister of the United Kingdom. He began in politics as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Newark and ended as the face of the Liberal Party.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 88

View profile

Photo: Samuel Alexander Walker · Public domain

1843 · 182 yrs

Elisabeth of Wied

Elisabeth of Wied (Pauline Elisabeth Ottilie Luise; 29 December 1843 – 2 March 1916) was the first Queen of Romania as the wife of King Carol I from 15 March 1881 to 27 September 1914. She had been the princess consort of Romania since her marriage to then-Prince Carol on 15 November 1869.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 72

View profile

Photo: Unidentified photographer · Public domain

1876 · 149 yrs

Pau Casals

Pablo Casals (29 December 1876 – 22 October 1973), also known by his birth name, Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan:), was a Catalan cellist, composer, and conductor, born in Spain.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 149

View profile

Photo: Bain News Service · Public domain

1882 · 143 yrs

Aleksey Tolstoy

Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Алексей Николаевич Толстой; 10 January 1883 – 23 February 1945) was a Russian and Soviet writer whose works span across many genres, but mainly belonged to science fiction and historical fiction.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 143

View profile

Photo: ИППИ · Public domain

1886 · 139 yrs

David Alfaro Siqueiros

David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 139

View profile

Photo: Galería Fundación Héctor García · CC BY-SA 3.0

1910 · 115 yrs100 Club

Ronald Coase

Ronald Harry Coase (29 December 1910 – 2 September 2013) was a British economist and author. Coase was educated at the London School of Economics, where he was a member of the faculty until 1951.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 115

View profile

Photo: University of Chicago Law School · Attribution

1936 · 89 yrs

Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

TelevisionWould be 89

View profile

Photo: Nick Step ; cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 20:43, 4 April 2014 (UTC) · CC BY 2.0

Showing 12 of 27

Famous deaths13

1170 · 855 yrs

Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English cleric and statesman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his death in 1170.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 51

View profile

Photo: Peter of Langtoft · Public domain

1825 · 200 yrs

Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David (French:; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 77

View profile

Photo: Jacques-Louis David · Public domain

1891 · 134 yrs

Leopold Kronecker

Leopold Kronecker (German:; 7 December 1823 – 29 December 1891) was a German mathematician who worked on number theory, abstract algebra and logic, and criticized Georg Cantor's work on set theory.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 68

View profile

Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1894 · 131 yrs

Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic and devotional poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She was the youngest sister of the artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti and features in several of his paintings, including Ecce Ancilla Domini!

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 64

View profile

Photo: Dante Gabriel Rossetti · Public domain

1924 · 101 yrs

Carl Spitteler

Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler (24 April 1845 – 29 December 1924) was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic Olympian Spring". His work includes both pessimistic and heroic poems.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 79

View profile

Photo: A. B. Lagrelius & Westphal, Stockholm · Public domain

1926 · 99 yrs

Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet. Acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as a significant writer in the German language.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 150

View profile

Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1981 · 44 yrs

Miroslav Krleža

Miroslav Krleža (pronounced; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Croatian writer, widely considered to be the greatest of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in several literary genres, including poetry (The Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh, 1936), theater (Messrs.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 133

View profile

Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1986 · 39 yrs

Harold Macmillan

Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1957 to 1963. Nicknamed "Supermac", he was known for his pragmatism, wit, and unflappability.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 132

View profile

Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain

2004 · 21 yrs

Julius Axelrod

Julius Axelrod (May 30, 1912 – December 29, 2004) was an American biochemist. He won a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 along with Bernard Katz and Ulf von Euler.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 114

View profile

Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

2020 · 5 yrs

Pierre Cardin

Pietro Costante Cardin (2 July 1922 – 29 December 2020), known as Pierre Cardin, was an Italian-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 104

View profile

Photo: Terentiyeva · CC BY-SA 4.0

2022 · 3 yrs

Pelé

Edson Arantes do Nascimento (23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé, was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 86

View profile

Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

2022 · 3 yrs

Vivienne Westwood

Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (née Swire; 8 April 1941 – 29 December 2022) was an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. In 2022, Sky Arts ranked her the 4th most influential artist in Britain of the past 50 years.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 85

View profile

Photo: Manfred Werner - Tsui · CC BY-SA 3.0

Showing 12 of 13

Events5

1791 · 234 yrs

Treaty of Jassy

The Treaty of Jassy, signed at Iași (Jassy) in Moldavia (present-day Romania), was a pact between the Russian and Ottoman Empires ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–92 and confirming Russia's increasing dominance in the Black Sea.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1890 · 135 yrs

Wounded Knee Massacre

The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, was an 1890 armed conflict between Native Americans and the United States Army. It was part of the U.S. Army’s Pine Ridge Campaign.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tragedy

1928 · 97 yrs

Northern Expedition

The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China, which had become fragmented in the aftermath of the 1911 Revolution.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1978 · 47 yrs

Constitution of Spain

The Spanish Constitution (Spanish: Constitución Española) is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in 1978 in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2024 · 1 yrs

Jeju Air Flight 2216

Jeju Air Flight 2216 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Jeju Air from Suvarnabhumi Airport near Bangkok, Thailand, to Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Korea.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

Nearby dates

Born on December 29? Find your birthday twins →

Share December 29

Living room with framed Who Shares My Birthday poster

Close-up

FrameShown to scale · framed 34 × 46 cmThis is the frame we'll deliver, with a white mount

Printable keepsake

Your birthday twins poster

A personalised A3 framed print of everyone famous born on December 29, what happened on your birthday in history and your zodiac sign. We print and frame it for you and deliver it to your door (UK only).

Name on poster

Your photo

Kept private and only used to make your poster.